From 3 meals to 2

[kellynharley]

:confused: At what age should you start to get ur pup on to 2 meals a day? Harley always eats his breakfast but sometimes he'll only eat a little of his lunch and eat the rest later, it's dry so if he doesn't eat it i just leave it down for him and he usually eats all of his t later on. I usually leave a 6 hour gap between meals, though i don't always know what time he finished his lunch off :o Any help would be great

[LabMomHouston]

Well I fed Gunner 3 meals a day until he was 2.5. Might explain why he was a fatty. :) He ate everyday at 7, 12, 7. And he always ate it all. But when he went to less food and 2 times a day, I switched Bella as well. She was 4 months old at the time. So I give her the same amount of food total but only 2 times a day. She eats all of her food too. :) They lick the bowl clean. I think that's a Lab thing though. They eat around 6am and then again at 4. If he's leaving food in his bowl...it may be a good sign to change the amount of times he gets fed.

[kellynharley]

Thanks labmom, might try feeding him more in the morning and evening and just a little at lunch n see how he goes :o

[CerbiesMom]

I've read 6 months is when you get them down to 2 feedings. That means next month with brigit. I'm excited.

[angied]

its usually 6 months to drop the lunchtime food

[Brooke]

My vet told me to only feed my dogs once a day - Is that right? I started off feeding them in the morning and then at night, but have cut down to night only... Hmmm :confused:

[LoveMyLabs]

LMH is right about the food with Labs. Labs will eat all day everyday til they explode if you let them. They are notorious over eaters and prone to obesity if fed to much.
I used to free feed Tira - she hit 75 lbs and went down to 2 meals a day. One in the morning, one at night. However, she stayed at the same weight.
Gunner used to free feed - he never got overweight, would eat all of his food most of the time, but if he left any Tira would get it on the sly (not good). So they went to the same schedule of 2 a day.
Rebel was a free feeder for about 2 months until we realized that Gunner AND Tira were eating the rest of the food he didn't finish right away.

Now they all eat in the morning when we get up. This is the best way, by far, in my opinion. You get the poo out before bedtime, no midnight bathroom breaks (because you limit water intake after the last break outside before bed) and you know that you'll get one to two good poos a day...like clockwork. Tira gets about 3 cups, Gunner and Rebel about 5 cups. They get puppy biscuits if we leave and some snacks (bread or left over hot dog from my work)...but nothing really substantial after that one meal. Just smaller snacks to keep the tummy from growling and making them think they are really hungry.

Night time feedings can lead to more night time potty breaks or inside accidents if you are in the process of potty training. I've always been told you don't want to feed at night...mainly for those reasons.

[chesapeake]

:) Hello,

I feed my puppies 4 times a day from 4 to 8 weeks old, 3 times a day until 4 months old, and then twice a day.

There are so many different schools of thought though, including feeding only once a day, and not feeding your dog at all one day a week..... So, I'll apply the same theory that I followed with raising my four children.... Follow your intuition, after all Mum's know best!!:)

[LabMomHouston]

Great advice Cheasepeake!

[Jr_K9_Expert]

According to the AKC dog care book you are supposed to feed the a pup 3 times a day till about 6 months, then once they are 6 months drop it down to twice a day, at one year they are able to eat once a day.

The reason behind this is because young dogs can't accomidate as much food as adult dogs, so the meal must be divided into smaller meals to allow them to be digested to allow more room.

Don't let this confuse you, just because there is less servings per day doesn't mean its LESS FOOD per day. Just decreases the amount of times you feed them.

For example lets say you give you dog a cup of food, until its 6 months you will give it food three times a day, each time giving it 1/3 of the cup of food. Then after 6 month it will be twice a day and each time will be 1/2 of that cup, then once it is one year you will feed it the whole cup per day.

You have to research this though, every dog needs a certain amount of calories depending on weight and activity level, then you divide whatever the information says to feed your dog into the amount of servings.

Does that help everyone?lol

[LoveMyLabs]

One meal per day works great for our group. We used to feed more or free feed but during potty training it was harder to catch one of them in time after a later feeding so there wouldn't be accidents . We didn't want any of the three to get confused about potty training and where they can or can't potty just because it's night time. So we feed once a day and they potty first thing in the morning (holding it for 8 hours with no probs), the pottying 4 or 5 times more during the day with a late nigh tpotty at midnight or maybe eleven.

BUt what works for one group won't necessarily work for another. Do what you think is right for your pup. Just remember not to over feed.